Kabu

Kabu
Base article
Base article
Information
Gender	Male
Region	Hoenn/Galar]]
Occupation	Gym Leader
Appears in	Generation VIII
Debut	Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield
Other information
Specialist type	Fire
In other languages
Japanese	Name カブ Kabu
Japanese	Name カブ Kabu

Kabu is the Gym Leader at Motostoke's Stadium and a user of Fire-type Pokémon, who appears in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield.

Appearance

Concept artwork of Kabu.

Kabu is a middle-aged man with black eyes, and salt-and-pepper hair. He wears a red polo shirt with a fire symbol, a black and red undershirt with long sleeves, white shorts with red and black details, red socks, and shoes of the same colors. He has muscular calves. He also wears a Dynamax Band and has a white and red towel on around his neck as well a thumbless single glove on his right hand.

Personality

Kabu is fiery and passionate, always striving to achieve the best skills. But contrast to his goal, he kept losing, nearly causing him to give up. After having a battle with Leon, however, he restored his faith and decided to pursue harder on perfecting his skills once again.

His motto is to keep on training and learning, as long as he is alive. Kabu respects those who can best him, seeing them off alongside fellow Gym Leaders Milo and Nessa per old tradition.

Etymology

Kabu's name is based on the Japanese word 蕪 for (turnip). 火 (ka, fire), and 兜 (kabuto, helmet, most often referring to samurai helmets, as Kabu is from Hoenn (based on the Kyūshū region of Japan) and the symbol for his gym resembles a samurai helmet).

Biography

Kabu is a Trainer originally from Hoenn who was invited to Galar at some point prior to the events of the game. Despite his motto to win and be the best, he was always missing something and nearly gave up because he dropped from the Major League into the Minor League, however when he had a fantastic battle with Leon, he regained faith and returned back to the Major League. Kabu continues to train even after returning to the Major League.

Kabu is the third Gym Leader in the Galarian Gym Challenge and is considered the first major roadblock, as many Gym Challengers end up failing to defeat him and give up.

League Card entries

Regular League Card

Kabu's regular League Card.

Kabu is a Pokémon Trainer who was invited from the Hoenn region. There were a few times where he was very close to becoming Champion, but victory always seemed to elude him at the last moment. Because of this, he adopted a no-holds-barred approach to battling for a time, but even that did not bring the results he wanted. He even dropped to the minor division at one point, but after a fantastic battle with Leon, he regained faith in his own potential. His motto is to keep learning and training as long as he is alive.

Rare League Card

Kabu's rare League Card.

Interview with Challenger Kabu
Q: How do you see your own battle style?
Kabu: Just, straightforward, direct. I'm still young, so I try to keep things simple. Just burn as hot as I can, you know? Still, I've hit a bit of a losing streak, so I've tried incorporating Will-O-Wisp into my Pokémon's move set. That's one thing I want to tell everyone—experiment with every possibility of your Pokémon. Moves, Abilities, items... Try everything, and there's sure to be a path forward!

Other appearances

Kabu in Pokémon the Series (anime)

Kabu in Pokémon Adventures (manga)

Kabu in Pokémon Masters (games)

Pokémon

Gym battle

Ninetales		Arcanine		Centiskorch
Lv. 25	♀	Lv. 25	♂	Lv. 27	♂
Ability: Flash Fire		Ability: Intimidate		Ability: Flash Fire
Item: None		Item: None		Item: None
Will-O-Wisp		Will-O-Wisp		Flame Wheel		-	-	-
Fire Spin		Flame Wheel		Coil		-	-	-
Quick Attack		Bite		Bug Bite		-	-	-
Ember		Agility		Smokescreen		-	-	-

Champion Cup rematch

Torkoal		Ninetales		Arcanine		Salazzle		Centiskorch
Lv. 60	♂	Lv. 60	♀	Lv. 61	♂	Lv. 61	♀	Lv. 62	♂
Ability: Drought		Ability: Flash Fire		Ability: Intimidate		Ability: Corrosion		Ability: Flash Fire
Item: None		Item: None		Item: None		Item: None		Item: None
Heat Crash		Extrasensory		Extreme Speed		Flamethrower		Fire Lash		-
Stealth Rock		Fire Blast		Flare Blitz		Dragon Pulse		Lunge		-
Body Press		Solar Beam		Play Rough		Sludge Wave		Crunch		-
Earthquake		Quick Attack		Iron Head		Foul Play		Power Whip		-

Trivia

• The samurai helmet on his gym's symbol somewhat looks like Centiskorch, his final Pokémon that he Gigantamaxes.
• Kabu's uniform number, 187, can be read in Japanese as hibana, meaning 'spark'.
• Kabu is the only Galarian Gym Leader who isn't native to Galar.
• He is the first Gym Leader to Gigantamax his Pokémon.